Monthly Archives: June 2017

I went to the inaugural Pink Dot in 2009. I even bought my first pink shirt just for it. But to be honest, I found it rather boring.

Late-afternoon notwithstanding, it was still hot and humid. There was no food or drink. There were too many people (I know, what was I expecting, the usual Hong Lim crowd of a 100?). Pam Oei, Neo Swee Lin, Lim Kay Siu and other artists provided entertainment, but the acoustics and the set-up made it hard to get into it. At the end when the organisers sheparded the 2,500 give or take people into the shape of a giant pink heart for the photo taken from somewhere up the Furama Hotel across the road, it was very sweet and also orderly in our Singapore way, but it still look a long time. I had doubts about its very (intentionally) depoliticised message. Except for a few whiners like me, most people though seemed to have fun that day.

I didn’t go to next eight Pink Dots.

Source: aspirant.sg

Pink Dot is a wonderful idea though. It is uniquely Singaporean. The growing attendance each year is a simple statistic that sums up Pink Dot’s success. It shows the power of one, of at last count 26,000 ones.

But the Government, with the urging, aid and support of the intolerant religious conservatives, has made it increasingly difficult for the organisers. Yet, the brilliant Pink Dot leaders have always overcome the rising restrictions on them. This year they surmounted what I thought was an impossible obstacle: getting local sponsors.

Sometimes clicking “Like” on Facebook is not enough. Sometimes you have to show face, because by doing so you show a digit at hate and repression. Sometimes you have to do what is not all that fun.

Time to take out that shirt from the closet again. It will be such a chore, but I will be there tomorrow at Pink Dot.

They are artists whose creations have dealt directly with or referenced the 1987 alleged Marxist plot against the government. I previously wrote about the scar literature and art that deals with the detention without trail of the “Marxists” when I discussed Wong Souk Yee’s novel Death of a Perm Sec:

“Wong’s novel and especially her play add to the slowly growing body of what is probably best termed Singapore’s “scar literature” (used for works dealing with China’s Cultural Revolution.) In our own scar literature I include not just novels and short stories, but also non-fiction, films, poetry, etc, which deal directly or indirectly with the period of the “political ISA”. By this I mean the time up till the late 1980s, during which the government locked up without trial politicians, social activists, and playwrights, journalists and other intellectuals (some for unimaginable years and years.)”

The above writers, editors and other what we call “Artists for Marxists (Alleged)” (disclaimer: including myself) are part of a as complete as we know list of the scar books, plays, sculptures, installation and other art works that a few of us compiled in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Operation Spectrum arrests on May 21 ( click on the link below for the PDF):

The anniversary has been marked by the launch of “1987: Singapore’s Marxist Conspiracy 30 Years On” (available here:). Publishers Ethos Books describe it as:

“Survivors of Operation Spectrum—the alleged Marxist conspiracy—speak up in this volume. For many of them, this is the first time that they cast their minds back to 1987 and try to make sense of the incident. What they did in that period was meaningful and totally legitimate. Their families and friends share the same view.”

Other anniversary events such as talks are on-going. Look up Function 8, the group behind them, to find out more.

The overwhelming response to the launch of the 1987 anniversary book (source: Function 8)